IS IT ME ?
IS IT ME ?
John Davies is a senior corporate partner at leading commercial law firm Thrings . In each edition of TBE John addresses a topical news or business-related issue . This time John discusses the joys of British railways .
Thrings @ ThringsLaw www . thrings . com
Remember the morning after Brexit ? I sat there and shared a few thoughts about the results of the referendum vote , even throwing in a bit of poetry . Well , I write on the morning of 9 November 2016 and Donald J Trump is President-elect of the United States of America . It ’ s massive . It ’ s bigger than his hair . I ’ ve decided it ’ s so huge that I haven ’ t got the will to reflect on it at the moment so I ’ m going to revert to type and have a rant . Brace yourself .
Why is it that this morning I can fly to Dublin , Madrid , Prague , Budapest or just about any other country in continental Europe ( and one or two in Africa for that matter ) for less dosh than it costs me to hop into a second class railway carriage in Cardiff , Bristol or Swindon and make my way up to London ? I genuinely don ’ t understand the economics here . How can it be cheaper to cross countries and international waters than board a train and travel 70 miles down the tracks ?
Not only that , if I do get on the plane , I ’ m guaranteed a seat . And I can buy a combo of coffee , a chocolate bar and a sandwich for £ 5.50 ! On the choo choo front I could easily shell out north of £ 150 and stand all way to London . I ’ m sure there ’ s a good reason for this , but it ’ s not immediately obvious to me . It wouldn ’ t be so bad if the price of the ticket had some bearing on the anticipation or the enjoyment of the impending trip .
Back in the 70s , 80s and even the 90s , any travel involving a propeller or a jet was considered slightly exotic , mysterious , sexy even . At the very least it was exciting . But come on , do you get the same feeling lining up with the masses at Didcot Parkway or Newport ? Do your knees quiver at the thought of changing at Birmingham New Street on the way to Manchester Piccadilly ?
In fairness , when I was much younger British Rail used to run summer ‘ Mystery Trips ’ during school holidays . You ’ d buy a ticket with no idea about your destination , often spending the first half of the journey guessing where you were going as you headed down the coast . Would it be Weston-super-Mare or Torquay or Paignton ?
But even that ’ s not quite the same as a snifter in departures and a race for the tiny loo when the seatbelt lights go off is it ?
So come on people in train land . Either drop your prices to reflect the simple journey from A to B or add a bit of spice and make it an event . You could theme the trips to entertain the poor souls on the daily commute . Why not throw in a karaoke carriage ? What about a meditation zone ?
Whatever you do I hope it helps me understand why a train ticket which gets me part of the way to London ( and forces me to hitchhike the rest of the way ) costs the same as a flight to Porto .
John Davies e : jdavies @ thrings . com t : 01793 412634
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THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2016 37